One Writer Girl
by WeLoveNeville
Summary: Kate, Castle, Martha, Lanie, Ryan, Espo and Alexis' thoughts post "Always", the morning after.
1. Chapter 1:Gathering Thoughts in Bed

**Chapter One: Gathering Thoughts In Bed**

For the first time in nearly twelve years, Kate Beckett could gather her thoughts in bed peacefully.

The hurt would still be there, yes, but at least now she had found someone who was willing to help her through the grief of her Mom, Royce, and Montgomery… It had taken her four years to realize that the ruggedly handsome, ever so childish, reckless man who had been her "plucky side-kick"-no, side-kicks always got killed, so "partner"- was the only one, except for Mike, who could understand her obsession with the police force; with the 12th.

The 12th…

No, she would not think about it. Not think about her "brothers" right now. Ryan had only been doing his job, looking out for her, because he cared. Kate didn't blame him; after all _she_ had been the one to resign. Not him.

And Espo... he shouldn't have got kicked into suspension because of following _her_ orders, Goddamnit.

She hoped the Captain would see sense and put him back on the job. Because in Beckett's mind, cops like Espo and Ryan were the cops that the streets of New York needed.

But then the person beside her gave a sigh and all Kate's worries about the 12th slide away like they didn't even exist.

She smiled to herself.

How many times she had tried-or he had tried- to tell him how she felt about him. How many times they had been interrupted. As Kate stared at the tousled brown haired man, she knew that all those times hadn't been the "right" moment.

But now and forever was.

Kate knew she loved Castle. She had just been afraid to admit to the rising feelings for him swelling in her heart.

She loved none of his annoying little habits, like his instance of fiddling with her chair and her desk items. She loved how she would secretly catch him watching her with such deep curiosity as she stared at the murder board.

Secretly she loved how he would refuse to do his share of the paperwork. Somehow, that amused Kate, knowing that really Rick wasn't a cop and therefore she had an excuse to protect the handsome writer at whatever cost.

And, yes, he was right, in his little vain way. He really was "ruggedly handsome".

Kate Beckett snuggled into the warm chest of Rick Castle, and unconsciously, he immediately wrapped an arm around her slim frame.

Kate was where she wanted to be.

With Richard Castle.

She truly was a one-writer girl.

Gathering thoughts in bed.

In _his _bed.


	2. Author's Note

_**Author's Note:**_

_Thank you so much for the reviews! Wow, I am so shocked at all the brilliant comments._

_I have decided to continue it and I am currently writing some of Ryan's thoughts. I haven't read many stories with his thoughts on the after-math of "Always" and I feel it is a good place to start._

_Also, Alexis, Castle, Martha, Esposito and Lanie all deserve some chapters too, don't you think?_

_Thank you again. So much_

_Cesca. _


	3. Chapter 2:Facing The Truth

**Author's Note**

_I was doing my Irish homework, and I couldn't stop thinking about Ryan, the Irish guy of __**Castle**__. So, I had to do him first. Before Castle himself (who will be next, I promise.)_

_Ryan, we all forgave you. We are just hoping the rest of the characters do in Season 5._

_Again, I don't own __**Castle**__, Andrew Marlow does. If I did, Ryan would speak in a brilliant, sexy Irish accent like he did in "The Blue Butterfly" 24/7. Oh, and Lanie and Espo would be a couple again._

_Cesca_

* * *

**Chapter Two : Facing The Truth**

Ryan felt like a traitor. He felt terrible.

How could he betray his family like that? Because there was no other way of putting it, Espo and Kate were family. His "brother" and "sister".

Or "Mom" for Kate, when she was with Castle: their "Dad".

But that was why he did what he did: went behind their backs and informed "Iron Gates" what they were truly up to.

Because they were family.

Because he was scared that they mightn't have came back alive.

Only in body bags.

Kate nearly had; sure, hadn't he pulled her up from hanging off a building within a few centimetres of her death? Hadn't Javi just nearly escaped a beating off whoever Kate had went chasing?

But he wouldn't have told Captain Gates if only Castle had picked up. Why hadn't Castle answered? Surely the 12th's number would have come up... but he might have thought it was Beckett, Ryan thought as he squeezed past another detective in order to reach the elevator. And didn't Beckett say that Castle was "off the team" a bit earlier before she and Espo went off?

Had Castle left the team? No, he couldn't have. He _wouldn't _have.

Like Beckett, Kevin enjoyed the writer being on the team. She was right: Castle did make their jobs a little bit easier. The three boys shared the same sense of humour, teasing Beckett.

What had Beckett described them as once? "Sex and The City with male roles".

Jenny had told him not to worry this morning as they kissed goodbye this morning. She could tell that he was by the silence Ryan was in. And his eyes. They betrayed her husband too. They were lost in deep thought. But Jenny didn't understand Ryan's job, where danger was a constant threat and that you had to be "in" with your team in order to survive the streets of New York.

God, Ryan wished things were as they used to be. Before Beckett got shot. But "shit happens" and shit had, and what could he do? Only one thing.

Face the truth.

Ryan reached their floor and he stepped out of the elevator. Immediately his eyes landed on Beckett's desk and he swallowed as he realised that her elephants had vanished. Goddamnit, she had been serious.

His boss had really resigned from the force she loved so well.

Shit. What would he do?

"Detective Ryan!"

Captain Gates was standing at her office door, with her arms folded, studying the sadden detective. But she had no time to peruse feelings. He was here for work and work he should do.

Even with a third of his team suspended and another third just resigned. (Gates didn't count Castle as part of the team.)

Ryan tore his eyes away from Beckett's desk they landed on the Captain, and swallowed back another lump again, before replying, "Yes, sir?"

"In here, Ryan, I am having you transferred to another team until your current team get sorted out."

"Yes, sir."

With a heavy heart, Ryan managed to drag his feet towards "Iron Gates" and her office.

Facing the truth. With a traitor's heart.

That was what he felt like he was doing.

Facing the truth. With a traitor's heart.


	4. Chapter 3:Always

**Author's Note**

_The word "Always" has two meanings to me. As a Potterhead, it's Snape's true devotion to Lily Evans, and as a Caskett fan, it is Beckett and Castle's declaration of love towards each other._

_So it is only fitting that Castle's chapter is called "Always". Because he is always sure of his feelings for Beckett and he was willing to wait a lifetime for her._

_That's damn true love, so take that, Twilight._

_**Castle**__, yet again, is not mine, but is in the hands of the genius creator of it, Andrew Marlow. He is like my "King", like JK Rowling is my "Queen". If it was mine, I would have a channel on the TV devoted to just __**Castle**__ re-runs until Season 5 came out, then Season 5 being played constantly. Oh, and Alexis would have got into Stanford first time round._

_Cesca_

* * *

**Chapter Three: Always**

Richard Castle, the insanely rich and talented author, was in love.

No denying it.

Not with a dumb blonde he had picked up from a bar. Not with a fellow rich citizen of New York.

No, with the most beautiful woman he had ever set eyes on: a NYPD detective from the 12th Precinct.

Detective Katherine "Kate" Beckett.

Rick believed in finding inner beauty, as much as outer beauty, when it came to women, and man, did Beckett qualify in that?

You bet she did.

He loved how she would bite her lip when anxious or in deep thought. How she would get pissed when he fiddled with things on her desk, or her chair. He loved watching her as she stared at the murder board when they were working a case, head tilted, trying to make sense of the mystery in front of her.

Castle was a mystery writer and no doubt Kate Beckett was a mystery that he couldn't solve in one. It was like a jigsaw puzzle, Kate, with Castle trying to piece together all the meaningful pieces until it was complete.

Only then would she be solved to him. Like a murder case would be solved once the killer had been caught.

That was it. He was the "detective" and she was the "murder case".

And he was now inches off solving it.

She had come to him last night, soaked to the skin, and had kissed him. Yes! Kissed him _first_. There was no guard, so it wasn't a ploy. It wasn't in his head. It had been real, it _was_ real. Kate Beckett wanted _him_. She had said so.

So Rick had no shame in the situation he was in now: lying in bed with his arms around her, smiling to him.

It was where the both of them wanted to be.

Nearly a year it had taken. Nearly a year had passed since that bastard of a sniper took his Kate from him – yes, "his" Kate, because clearly she was no one else's, just his. After all, she_ had_ called herself an "_One Writer Girl_" – and even though they were nowhere near close to finding him, at this moment of time, for once, Castle didn't care.

For once, Castle didn't care that the sniper was still on the streets.

He had his girl.

Beckett knew him so well. Knew that under all the layers of his childish manners and his indulgence of spending his well-earned money – of course it was well-earned! – and his annoying mannerisms, she knew that Castle was a caring father to his daughter Alexis and a caring son to his mother, Martha. Beckett knew Castle like no other woman – or person – had, and he took so much comfort in it.

Richard had come to the conclusion that the other women in his life had been to fill the space in his mind until the right woman would come and claim his heart as her's. Meaningless flings. Ok, so he thought Meredith and, later on, Gina, had been "the one", but clearly not so, as he stared wonderingly at Beckett, who was snuggled into his chest without a care in the world.

They had only been there to fill the void in his life at that time.

He would never regret Alexis though. He loved his beautiful kid daughter (it was hard for Rick to think of her as an adult) as much as he loved Kate. He was so proud of Alexis, and would damn miss her when she would go to college.

Thank God she had chosen one in New York.

But Kate would be here now. The woman who had inspired him to write "Nikki Heat". His muse. Castle would probably never get bored of writing about Nikki and Rook. As he was writing about Kate and himself in an imaginary world.

But it wouldn't be imaginary anymore. It had turned so real last night. With no regrets.

Right now, Castle had no idea about the detective's full ordeal yesterday, but over breakfast he would find out. For now, he was happy to lie in bed with the most beautiful woman in the world.

However, there was one thing Rick loved most about the detective.

He loved it when he would breeze into the precinct in the mornings, sometimes whistling, carrying, as always, two coffee cups, and there would be Beckett, sitting at her desk, usually, waiting for him. And he would swing into his chair, lean over and he would get a glorious whiff of cherries before he would hand Beckett her coffee.

He loved her smile as their fingers brushed as she would take the coffee.

"Thank you," she would smile at him.

And he would reply every time with their special word.

"Always."

* * *

_Wow, I am on a roll with this!_

_I hope you lot find it good. Cause I did this instead of studying for my T6 Maths module tomorrow. Oops._

_Reviews, please. Thank you._


	5. Chapter 4:Anger and Disbelief

**Author's Note**

_Madness, me! I already have Martha's chapter planned out in my head! I am so proud of myself, I thought this would be so hard, but I am enjoying this immensely._

_I bring you my take of Javier Esposito's thoughts the morning after._

_As ever, __**Castle **__does not belong to me. Sadly. It's Andrew Marlow's. If it did, we would have more laser tag and fencing done by the two Castles in Rick's apartment. _

_Also, a special mention to __**phnxgrl**__, who has being reviewing from the start and has left me the most wonderful reviews. Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!_

_Cesca_

* * *

**Chapter Four: Anger and Disbelief with Alcohol**

Javier Esposito woke up to a thumping headache; a hangover. The result of an over-binge of alcohol to soak up his anger and disbelief last night.

Anger and disbelief at his "brother", Detective Kevin Ryan.

How much he had wanted to pound that Irish American into an unrecognisable mess last night. Hence why he had drowned himself in way too many beers last night when arriving home, to stop his bloody mind thinking it was right to do something stupid to his best mate.

Esposito felt betrayed by Ryan. He had told him to "sit tight, bruv" and what had he gone and done? _Told Gates what the hell Beckett and him where up to!_

To top it all off, he now was suspended... and his boss had resigned and left the 12th.

He hoped Beckett was coping ok. He knew how much the 12th meant to her. He hoped that she could patch things up with Castle, cause, dude, she needed to. Cause she would need him now in the next few days.

Still...

Anger and disbelief at the betrayal at the hands of Ryan.

Javi was pissed.

But he was relieved too at Kevin's actions. Just a tiny bit. Barely measurable. Why? Cause the guy had saved their asses, saved Beckett from a terrifying death. Espo had been in some horrible, death-threatening situations before with the Special Forces, but even he could decide that falling to your death from a building was _not_ the way to go.

Definitely not the way _he_ wanted to go.

He stumbled out of bed, on a hunt to find something to cure the shitty headache that was torturing him.

He would forgive Ryan; he had decided that already, after around the seventh or eighth drink last night. But no-o way would it be an easy "sorry" from the detective, oh no! He would pay for his betrayal, and Javier would make sure of it.

Then Lanie crossed his mind.

Did she know? About Beckett's resignation? She probably did. Esposito contemplated picking up the phone and ringing his ex-girlfriend, but decided against it. He didn't want to start another ridiculous argument with her.

The woman drove him mentally insane, but Christ, he loved her crazily and regretted ever breaking up with her. He missed them sneaking around, cause surely no one knew they had been dating at the start, right?

Javi wished that Lanie was his again.

He also wished for another thing. For Castle and Beckett to see that they were meant for each other, and just get together. Everyone in the whole precinct knew that they were meant for each other; even the sniffer dogs did!

But Esposito's boss had this brilliant streak of stubbornness in her, which was getting in the way, according to Espo. As much as he admired this streak, as it came so useful in solving cases, he wished she would drop it. For once.

Castle had made her pancakes, for God's sake! Had "saved" her from her burning apartment. Had investigated her mother's case behind her back, to protect her.

Esposito thought that was love.

He was right.

He just wanted his boss to be happy. And yeah, he had noticed the smile "Mom" would give "Dad" in the morning when he gave her coffee.

Lanie wanted that too. For Beckett to be happy.

Shit. Everything, he realised, in his thoughts this morning, was relating back to Lanie. Like most of his morning thoughts. Or his coffee-break thoughts. Or his lunch-break thoughts. Or his evening thoughts.

In fact, unless Esposito was thinking about the current case he would be working, most of his thoughts would relate back to the gorgeous medical examiner of the 12th Precinct, Dr. Lanie Parish.

He would have a lot of time to think about her now, since his ass was on suspension. Well, he couldn't say that was a bad thing now, could he? But seriously...

He really needed to get back with her.

He could work on a plan for that now with his unexpected free time, he thought as he flicked on the kettle to make coffee. (Nothing like the posh machine Castle had brought in four years ago into the precinct.) It would be a good way to pass the time.

But first, he need to get rid of the anger and the disbelief.

But the coffee and the aspirin would cure the anger and the disbelief with alcohol that Javier was experiencing this morning.

Coffee was a good cure for anything.

Especially a hangover.

And as Espo slowly sipped his coffee a few minutes later, the anger and disbelief with alcohol began to fade away slowly.


	6. Chapter 5:Finally

**Author's Note:**

_Thank you again to all the people who have started to follow my story. You don't know how much this means to me. Thank you._

_Please, as always, review. I greatly appreciate all the comments I am given._

_Martha was quite difficult to write. Not difficult as "I don't know what to write" but difficult as in "It's hard to pin-point her thoughts exactly onto paper". I think she is such a brilliant, wacky character, and I feel I won't do her enough justice._

_Lanie's thoughts will be up next._

_As always, __**Castle**__ does not belong to me, it is yours', Andrew Marlow. If __**Castle **__was mine, we would have seen the Ryans' entire wedding._

_Cesca_

* * *

**Chapter Five: Finally**

If there was one thing that Martha Rodgers wanted in life, except for her brilliant, exciting social life to continue until she was _literally _on her death bed, it was for her son to be happy.

She knew Richard had been far from happy this past year.

God, she loved that kiddo with all her heart; as much as he loved his daughter Alexis. Yes, he thought he acted like a huge kid at times, and was unbelievably irresponsible, and didn't have all the short-comings she so wished he had, overall, Martha knew she had raised a good man.

This was why she wished that he was happy.

Find a woman that didn't just look at his money, and get into a marriage that _last._

To Martha, wife number one of Rick's had only been good in one thing: giving Martha her simply amazing granddaughter, Alexis.

Martha was hugely proud of her only grandchild and all her achievements, like Castle was.

Meanwhile, ex- Mrs. Castle, Number Two? That Gina Cowell, Rick's publisher and publicity agent?

Let's _not _get into her, shall we?

So, effectively, if there was a wife number three, Martha thought, she had better love Alexis as her own, love her son unconditionally, and last in the marriage.

Which was why, in her head, as actresses and actors did, she was playing out her own private Broadway show.

One of which included her coming home from an energetic day at her acting school, to find Alexis home for a weekend or so from college in her son's apartment, along with her handsome son, and another woman there, beaming warmly at Martha, with her brunette hair framing her slim face.

Detective Kate Beckett.

Martha counted Beckett as part of the little family, ever since she had stepped through the apartment door four years ago in that stunning dress Richard had bought her for their "undercover mission". When her son had just started his new "obsession": shadowing the detective and turning her into his new muse.

She thought the detective was probably the most beautiful woman Richard had brought home. She admired how Beckett was dedicated to her job, and how polite and kind she was, no matter who you were. Martha admired the fact that Beckett would treat you no different if you were a rich bachelor of New York, or your normal 5 to 9 workman. If you respected her, Beckett would respect you.

And if you didn't... Well, hell would break loose.

And Martha admired that.

Martha knew of the feelings her kiddo son had been wrestling with about Detective Beckett for the past years; he had confined in her a bit about it.

What was it he had said?

"It's not about the books no more."

She knew that Richard was in love with Beckett, and how much he cared about her.

Martha wished that Beckett would see the true Richard Castle behind all the fabricated layers her son had put up over the years, and would fall in love with him.

The two of them deserved happiness, in Martha's eyes, and they deserved it together.

So it was in absolute delight that Martha returned to the apartment, two days after Alexis' graduation, from the Hamptons', in the morning to find her kiddo son asleep, sprawled out over the sofa on his back, with his arms tightly wounded round the slender frame of the one and only Detective Beckett, quite intimately.

They looked so peaceful, so perfect together. The perfect scene made Martha's heart burst with delightful happiness and excitement.

Finally.

Finally, Richard and Kate had worked everything out between themselves. Had decided to sort out their deeply entwined pasts and begin their futures. Together. As one.

Martha didn't want to stir the sleeping couple, so she tip-toed past and headed for the stairs, but she was beaming.

"Finally, kiddo. Well done," she whispered, as she glanced back at the new couple, before she went up to her room.

Finally.


	7. Author's Note 2

_**Author's Note:**_

_After rereading my first chapter, I have decided that I will update Kate's thoughts. I can certainly do more justice to them._

_I will post up the updated version soon._

_Cesca_


	8. Chapter 6:Writer Boy

_**Author's Note:**_

_All I have to do is Alexis now, and my first fanfiction will be complete. Wow. So, please, review. It would mean so much to me._

_So here are Lanie's thoughts. I love Lanie; she is such a brilliant friend to Kate, and tries to guide her towards Castle. In her own quirky way._

_As always, __**Castle **__does not belong to me, but to Andrew Marlowe. If I did, Castle and Beckett would be getting married in the Season 5 finale._

_Cesca_

* * *

**Chapter Six: Writer Boy**

Even though Lanie Parish spent most of her working day down in autopsy, with a pile of dead, usually battered, bodies, she knew the gossip of the 12th precinct like she knew how to autopsy a body.

She knew it precisely.

But she was in utter bewilderment when the news of her best friend's resignation reached her ears.

Lanie thought that the girl was _crazy_. She knew Kate's devotion to the 12th, her devotion to her mother's case, her exact reason for becoming the best cop that she could: to bring justice to Johanna.

So Lanie was also in shock when she heard the news that her ex-boyfriend had been put on suspension. With immediate effect.

A simple murder case that had blown out in huge proportions, Lanie thought, as she pulled on her coat before she headed to work.

But she knew that all Beckett needed to pursue her mother's case was just a little sliver of information.

But even Lanie thought that it _must _have got out of hand if Espo and Beckett were gone from the precinct.

Esposito. The last time they had spoken properly, they had ended up fighting. She missed him, yes, but if he was gonna get over-jealous, then, no way was she sticking up with it.

Deep down, though, she wished that they were together again. Cause she loved him crazily, and yeah, he drove her mad, but that only made him more cuter to Lanie.

Maybe she would call him later...

But then her thoughts changed to Ryan. Her thoughts were flicking all over the place now, as she tried to figure out the mess that the 12th was now in.

Lanie knew that Ryan had been the one to inform Gates; the whole fricking precinct knew that. But she wasn't angry with the detective. He had probably saved Espo's – and definitely Kate's – life, and she was grateful for that.

She just wished that no one would give him a hard time today at work.

After all, they had lost their best detective.

And Castle.

Of course Castle wouldn't come in if Beckett wasn't there. She _was_ the reason that for the past four years Lanie had had to put up with his childish remarks and theories when Kate came down to grabs some information off her best friend.

What was the best remark he had made, though, to Lanie?

"_You want me to put on some music? Whenever they do this sort of thing in CSI, they always do it to music in poorly lit rooms. Kinda reminds me of porn."_

Or the time at the crime scene of that therapist when he got pissed that someone had used wrong grammar?

_"Psycho the rapist your out of time"? Beckett said, reading off the dead girl's body. Lanie nodded, answering, "Looks like a patient lost their patience."_

_And Castle, being Castle the writer, caught onto the mistakes of the English language._

"_Also his command of grammar."Your" should be You-apostrophe-R-E as in "you are." That's not even a tough one, not like when to use "who" or "whom." "_

_Beckett looked over at the writer in amusement, while Lanie stood there, waiting for Beckett's reaction to Castle._

"_You really think __that's__ the take-away here, Castle?"_

_And Castle being the smart-ass answered back, "I'm just saying - whoever killed her also murdered the English language."_

Lanie beamed to herself as she remembered that particular case. And the time when Castle had released his first book on Kate, and that sex scene!

Still, now, three or so years on, it made Lanie reach for ice water every time she read it.

She remembered the half-argument she had with Beckett on that too, when Castle's ex-girlfriend got messed up in their case.

Kira, wasn't that her name?

_Lanie could clearly see that Beckett was jealous, but was trying to hide it from herself – spectacularly- and others- not so well._

"_Girl, I'm gonna smack you! You work side by side every day," Lanie told her, smiling, as she looked up from the corpse, Sophie,"He writes a sex scene in his book about you that had __me__ reaching for ice water. Now, little miss bride shows up. Don't tell me you're not the least bit jealous."_

_But Beckett, being Beckett, was stubborn with her best friend. _

"_Oh, please. You've been inhaling too many autopsy fluids", the detective answered in disbelief as she began to leave the room, to go back to Castle. Lanie's voice began to escalate as Beckett left the room._

"_Honey, just because you can't see what's goin' on, doesn't mean everyone else doesn't see what's going on!"_

"_Shut up!" Kate replied in a singsong voice, vanishing from view. Smiling to herself, Lanie leaned over the body again, and spoke to it._

"_Mm-hmm. I see it. You may not, but I do."_

Lanie had _always_ seen it. Had always seen the attraction between the writer and the cop. And damn, girl, she thought it was hell cute.

God, she wished Kate would just _tell_ Castle _the truth. _ That she was in _love _with him.

Cause Lanie really wanted to see if she would get a slice of the winning money going round the precinct: the bet on Castle and Beckett's relationship.

So when Lanie phoned Kate during her break at work, to check up on her best friend, and offer comfort over the phone, and invite herself over tonight so Kate could cry on her best friend's shoulder, she was more than stunned to find Castle answering it, and having to call for Kate to come get her phone off him.

He called her "Katie", Lanie thought to herself, as she waited for Kate to come to her phone. Only her Dad calls her Katie. And why the hell-

It clicked in Lanie's mind, and the M.E. beamed to herself widely.

She _knew _Beckett was at Castle's and it made her nearly jump up and down in excitement at the thought of it.

Kate _must have _got it on with Writer Boy. _Must have!_

Writer Boy and the detective were together.

About four years late, in Lanie's mind, but God she was happy that it had _finally _happened.

And as soon as her best friend came to the phone, the bursting-with-excitement M.E. began to grill her about Castle, and their new relationship.

Writer Boy and the detective were together.


	9. Chapter 7:Little Castle

_**Author's Note:**_

_I am so sorry this has taken so long to update! I have been really busy, but it is the summer now, (thank Godric!) so I have lots more time to focus on my cross-over story, as this is the last chapter for this story._

_Please review. Alexis was difficult to write and I want true, honest opinions. Thanks._

_As always, __**Castle**__ does not belong to me. If it did, there would be a bit more Caskett._

_Cesca._

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Little Castle**

What Alexis Castle loved more than Blue Pill, her favourite band, or being an intern with Lanie in the 12th precinct, was her Dad himself _happy._

Alexis' happiness lay with her father's happiness.

She couldn't be _fully _happy unless he was too.

He wanted to find happiness in Detective Beckett but he couldn't. Alexis knew how deeply in love Castle was in with Beckett-sure, wasn't she a teenager herself? Knew how hard and troublesome love could be?

She knew why her Dad couldn't get his happiness in Kate; she knew of Beckett's troublesome past, of her mother's horrific murder and how much being a detective and bringing the guys who killed Johanna to justice meant to Kate.

Alexis knew, like Castle, that dedication to the job always overruled in the detective's love life.

But Alexis had discovered that her Dad was slightly becoming obsessed with the sniper who had shot Kate.

Alexis had seen the secret file on her Dad's touchscreen TV in his study on Beckett's sniper.

Alexis had been at the old Captain's funeral and had seen Beckett get shot, and it had been the most terrifying experience, sight, thing ever. It could have been _her _Dad, and that was why she defended him against Josh in that hospital corridor, that was why she blamed Kate herself for getting shot the following days after, for putting her father in _that_ kind of danger.

Alexis was angry with Kate until her father told her that it was all related to Johanna Beckett's murder in that alleyway, and so Alexis' anger faded slowly into hurt and shock and grief. For Beckett.

Like her Grams, she considered the detective part of the little Castle family. How many times had she gone to Kate for advice? Her Dad was all well and good, but even his daughter admitted he was like a twelve year old (or a two year old would have been a better description, Alexis thought) and slightly immature. Sometimes the eighteen year old needed to have a proper, mature conversation with someone who was not "family" and so that person was Kate.

Detective Kate was sophisticated in Alexis's mind, and so bad-ass awesome. _She was a kick-ass cop, one of the best in the city! _Alexis loved the fact that Kate kept her Dad out of trouble-well, harm- as they went around New York for her job. Kate had saved her Dad from a tiger; rescued him from a bank robbery; they had both survived their dip in the Hudson; saved the city from blowing up... There were just so many adventures Castle had had with Kate that Alexis couldn't help but include her in the family.

She knew her Dad loved Kate for who and what she was, and Alexis couldn't help but do the same as well.

Love Kate like she should love her mother.

These days, with college looming, Alexis barely thought of Meredith, her...weird...mother. Like her Dad, she was shocked that he was thought to be "more responsible" than Meredith.

That was well true. Her mother had taken her to lunch in _Paris_ one school day! Had tried to persuade her to lie and skip school and go shopping with her.

Her Dad had persuaded her to do some wacky things in his time, but nothing like that. Least he knew how much school meant to his daughter, unlike her mother.

So, no, thought Alexis, a few years back. I will love Mother from a distance.

And that was what she now did.

Alexis heard the detective's voice before she had even fully opened the apartment door.

The all-nighter had been awesome, in the red head's opinion, but the high-school graduate really needed some _well_-deserved rest. Hence why she had blown off going into the city with her friends and had headed home.

But to hear Kate's voice in the penthouse at this time (11am), at the weekend, confused Alexis, but also made her intrigued. It was the weekend. The only two days of the week that her Dad stayed home and typed up his new discoveries on his muse.

Unless a guy couldn't wait until the working week started, and dumped a dead body, with Kate claiming the case as her's. Then her Dad would be out of the place, beaming like an idiot, going to the coffee shop before going to Beckett.

Alexis knew of the detective's addiction to coffee.

Alexis went into the penthouse, smiling to herself, discovering that, yep, Kate was sitting in the kitchen, clutching a coffee mug, laughing and talking to her Dad, as he made pancakes.

Alexis loved the smell of pancakes, and loved her Dad's pancakes.

And so, the Little Castle headed on in, and joined the perfect picture that was her Dad and Beckett, knowing secretly without having to be told that Kate was well and truly part of the family now. No inverted commas.

Well and truly part of the family.

Did she care?

No.

Because, she knew, that this time, it would definitely last. Kate was no fling to her father, this one was serious.

And it also gave Alexis a little bit of hope. If he could find "the one", even with all his ways, and his past, then she 100% _could._

And would.

And she smiled to herself as she hugged her Dad, and then Beckett, thinking: _This is the family I want_.

This was where the Little Castle wanted to be.

And she was there.

Happily.

Peacefully.


End file.
